Total pages in book: 92
Estimated words: 86238 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 431(@200wpm)___ 345(@250wpm)___ 287(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 86238 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 431(@200wpm)___ 345(@250wpm)___ 287(@300wpm)
It sounds simple now, but I had issues understanding it when his new title had him stealing Alek’s attention from me.
“And neither the fuck is he, so you finally have something in common.” When Alek’s chuckled reply offers me little reassurance, he yanks out the sweats I pulled from the bottom of a suitcase, tosses them onto the bed, then shifts me to face him. “What’s this really about?”
Feeling stupid, I brush off his worry with a two worded reply, “It’s nothing.”
“драгоценный…”
The growling of my nickname feels almost as good vibrating on the lips on my face as it does downstairs, and it has me obeying in an instant. “The money you paid. Did that come from you or Ghost?”
“Your father’s debt?” When I peer at him, shocked and open-mouthed as to what else he thinks I’m referencing, he murmurs, “It came from me.” He drags a hand over his manbun that’s hanging a lot lower since I gripped it for dear life while he ate me for breakfast. “I’ve done some not-so-good shit the past four years. Illegal shit comes at a premium.”
He sounds ashamed, and it has me biting with the snappiness he’s accustomed to. “Was one of those things Stace?”
Alek isn’t the only one reeling from the sudden flip of our conversation. I wasn’t planning to bring this up until I was certain, with the utmost positivity, that he understood my gratitude for him helping my father, but the dishonesty on his face pushed it to the surface at a rate faster than I could contain it. “What?”
“Her dad is in distribution. He knows everyone who is offloading or buying.” While acting like my heart isn’t being torn to shreds, I rummage through my suitcase for a shirt while mumbling, “So it makes sense you’d sleep with her to tighten ties.”
“What the fuck did you just say?” His voice is an angry roar.
“Nothing—”
Equally excited and feared, I freeze when he growls out, “Lie to me again, драгоценный. I fucking dare you.”
After swallowing to relieve my suddenly parched throat, I crank my neck back to peer at him. Gone is the playful I’ll-eat-you-until-the-sun-rises Alek replaced with a man who looks like conducting backyard abortions is how he gets off. “She…” I’ve dug a mighty large hole, and I’m about to jump in it, but since I’m too scared to leap alone, I horrendously drag someone into the pit of hell with me. “Yev saw you. You were in her bed.”
“Yev?” Alek opens and closes his hands three times before he spits out through a clenched jaw, “He’s the reason you left me?”
His wish to deflect the blame with me makes me angry. “No—”
I don’t get the chance to say more. Alek heads for the door, uncaring he’s wearing nothing but a towel hanging dangerously off his wide hips. “I’m going to fucking kill him.”
His angry stomps freeze when I snap out, “For ratting you out? You’re a fucking hypocrite.”
My snarled comment regains me his sole devotion. Except now I’m not sure I want it. He looks pissed. Ropeable. So fucking sexy it is the fight of my life not to mop up his scowl with my tongue.
What the hell, Ana? You’re meant to be mad.
“You said you’d tell me if I was no longer enough, that you’d leave before finding someone else.” Suddenly vulnerable, my voice cracks during my next sentence. “Y-you lied.”
“I didn’t fucking touch her.” Anger and betrayal pile on my shoulders when he adds, “How many goddamn times do I have to tell you that?”
“Then why were you in her bed!”
His roar knocks me back two paces, much less what he confesses, “Because my head was about to fucking explode, and you weren’t answering your damn phone!” Too stunned to continue speaking, Alek fills in the gaps I did not know were so gapingly obvious until now. “I also needed to hide her where no one would think to look. In the last place anyone would expect. Stace’s house seemed like the logical choice since everyone knew I fuckin’ hated her guts for how worthless she always made you feel.”
“Who?” His comments about Stace stealing my confidence make sense. She did that as often as possible in our youth, but I am completely and utterly lost who he protected that day. Usually, his protective side was reserved for his unborn daughter and me. He’s never gifted it to anyone else before, and I’d be a liar if I said I wasn’t disappointed to learn someone stole it, even if it was only for an afternoon.
“Lera.” His reply doesn’t ease my bewilderment in the slightest until he mutters, “Ghost’s niece that was cut out of Sofia’s stomach the same day—” He stops, cusses, then drops his glistening eyes to my stomach. “The same fucking day my heart was cut out of my chest.” He stares at me like he doesn’t know who I am when he asks, “How fucking low must you think of me if you believe I would pick anyone over you that day? That I wouldn’t have been there for you in a heartbeat if I had known. She was my blood, Ana. My daughter.” He bangs his fist on the tiny feet tattooed on his chest during his last sentence. “But I only got to hold her in a jar. A fucking jar all because you believed some fucking bitch’s lie over the promise I made before I fucking touched you.”